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Flyers Preseason Gameday: 9/21/18 vs. NYI (PPL Center), Roster Cuts, Zamula

September 21, 2018, 7:18 AM ET [284 Comments]
Bill Meltzer
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Projected Flyers lineup:

25 James van Riemsdyk - 19 Nolan Patrick - 11 Travis Konecny
54 Oskar Lindblom - 46 Mikhail Vorobyev - 93 Jakub Voracek
12 Michael Raffl - 40 Jordan Weal - 81 Carsen Twarynski
21 Tayor Leier- 15 Jori Lehterä - 22 Dale Weise

9 Ivan Provorov - 53 Shayne Gostisbehere
8 Robert Hägg - 61 Philippe Myers
3 Radko Gudas - 59 Mark Friedman

79 Carter Hart / 41 Anthony Stolarz

Projected Islanders lines

18 Anthony Beauvillier - 13 Mathew Barzal - 12 Josh Bailey
14 Tom Kuhnhackl - 10 Jan Kovar - 26 Joshua Ho-Sang
21 Michael Dal Colle - 51 Valtteri Filppula - 47 Leo Komarov
32 Ross Johnston - 74 Travis St. Denis - 11 Tanner Fritz

3 Adam Pelech - 6 Ryan Pulock
44 Dennis Seidenberg - 2 Nick Leddy
28 Sebastian Aho- 34 Scott Helgeson

40 Robin Lehner / 33 Christopher Gibson

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FLYERS VS. NEW YORK ISLANDERS (PPL CENTER, ALLENTOWN, PA)

The Philadelphia Flyers' annual exhibition game at the home arena of their Lehigh Valley Phantoms affiliate in the American Hockey League marks the fourth preseason meeting with the New York Islanders within the last week, and the fourth different venue for the game. If one inclides the Rookies Game on Sept. 12 at the Islanders' training complex, the Flyers and Islanders have played five times this month in five different rinks.

The Flyers enter this game with a 3-1-0 record in the preseason. They are 2-1-0 again the Islanders. On Sunday, the Flyers dropped a 3-0 decision at the Nassau Coliseum. On Monday at the Wells Fargo Center, the Flyers earned a 3-1 win. On Tuesday at Barclays Center, the Flyers skated to a 5-1 victory. Finally seeing a different opponent, the Flyers defeated the New York Rangers, 6-4, at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday. Thursday was the Flyers' first off-day since camp began on Sept. 14.

The Flyers will hold a 10:30 a.m. morning skate at the Skate Zone in Voorhees, NJ, before traveling to Allentown for the 7 p.m. game.

Game rosters have not yet been released. However, according the Phantoms, the Flyers are sending a large contingent of their NHL regulars. The list includes forwards Jakub Voracek, James van Riemsdyk, Nolan Patrick and Oskar Lindblom as well as defensemen Ivan Provorov and Shayne Gostisbehere. Additionally, several young incumbent Phantoms players who are still in battles to earn opening night NHL roster spots -- Mikhail Vorobyev, Philippe Myers and Nicolas Aube-Kubel -- are slated to make the trip to Allentown.

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CAMP NEWS ROUNDUP

* The Flyers announced on Thursday that Phantoms goaltender Alex Lyon would miss approximately one month with a lower-body injury. The injury was apparently sustained in warmups before the Barclays Center game on Tuesday, in which Lyon was the scheduled starter. In his place, Anthony Stolarz went the distance and earned the win. The timing could not have been worse for Lyon but the Phantoms' crowded net is alleviated temporarily. Carter Hart will split time with Stolarz (now healthy after missing the 2017 Calder Cup playoffs and most of the 2017-18 season due to a recurring knee injury that twice required surgery).

* On Thursday, the Flyers made 11 training camp roster cuts. Ten of the cuts were no-surprise assignments of Phantoms players to the American Hockey League roster: Colin McDonald, Zach Palmquist, Reece Willcox, David Drake, Frank Hora, Mike Vecchione, James de Haas, and rookie forwards German Rubtsov, Connor Bunnaman and David Kase.

A handful of these players, including Phantoms captain McDonald and defensemen Palmquist, Drake, Hora and de Haas are on AHL contracts rather than NHL two-way deals. They technically were classified as "tryout" players in the Flyers' camp.

Among other incumbent and rookie players who are still officially part of the Flyers camp but with no realistic shot of making the NHL team are rookie forward Pascal Laberge (who is dealing with an injury) and oft-scratched Phantoms third-year forward Radel Fazleev. Young players still in Flyers' camp include Carsen Twarynski (who is having a strong camp and preseason) and Cole Bardreau and rookie goalie Carter Hart. Veteran forward Corban Knight also remains in the Flyers' camp.

* The other roster move on Thursday involved 18-year-old amateur tryout defenseman Yegor Zamula, who was one of five undrafted free agents invited to Rookie Camp. The Flyers signed him to an entry-level contract and assigned him to the Western Hockey League's Calgary Hitmen. His contract will slide for the 2018-19 season and is also slide-rule eligible for 2019-20 before the deal kicks in for the 2020-21, 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons.

Zamula had a strong Rookie Camp, Rookie Game, main camp and preseason debut against the Islanders on Monday. He struggled at times in Wednesday's game against the Rangers at Madison Square Garden, which did not affect his bigger picture outlook.

At the 2017 NHL Draft, the Flyers swapped a seventh-round pick to the Montreal Canadiens for a 2018 seventh-round pick. At this year's draft, the Flyers flipped the Montreal pick back to the Habs in exchange for a 2019 seventh-rounder. In 20/20 hindsight, the 2018 pick could simply have been retained and used on Zamula. That way, the Flyers would have held Zamula's right for the next two seasons without having to make an immediate entry-level contract commitment. In light of Zamula's camp performance, that would have been a better way to use the pick than to defer the seventh-round lottery ticket for one more year. Any which way, the tall, lanky young blueliner had an impressive camp with his combination of mobility and poise and his rights now belong to Philadelphia for the next five years.

In years to come, Zamula need to hone his game to develop NHL-caliber puck skills and fill out considerably but the raw materials are there for a future pro. It was surprising that no team selected him in the Draft, as he had been widely projected as a mid-to-late round option. Instead, the Flyers added to their prospect depth on the blueline; something that was needed with most of the top young defensemen in the system either now in the NHL or AHL. A healthy farm system needs a diverse group at all levels of play to keep the system flowing.

After the Flyers selected Ivan Provorov with their first pick of the 2015 Draft -- the third straight year that the Flyers used their first pick on a defenseman -- the Flyers went very forward-heavy over the remainder of their 2015 class and again took mostly forwards in 2016 and 2017. As a result, the system depth at forward improved considerably but, by 2018, there was again need to restock a bit on defense. After selecting forwards Joel Farabee and Jay O'Brien in the first round of the 2018 Draft, the Flyers took several defensemen on day two. That replenishing process continued yesterday with the entry-level contract given to Zamula. As it turned out for him, not getting drafted by any team proved to be a benefit from his standpoint.
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